Combined handle and electric plug retainer



March 14, 1961 A. H. BEEDE EIAL COMBINED HANDLE AND ELECTRIC PLUGRETAINER Filed Feb. 19, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR S HEIYOU) H.55:05 Hus/v P. CnwL 77-IEIR ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 A. H. BEEDE ETALCOMBINED HANDLE AND ELECTRIC PLUG RETAINER Filed Feb. 19, 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS HENOLD H8550: HlLt'N P ('nwz Bearer l. lam MJMIU-IEIR ATTORNEY United States Patent COMBINED HANDLE AND ELECTRIC PLUGRETAINER Arnold H. Beetle, Stamford, Allen P. Cawl, Noroton Heights, andRobert C. Lampe, Stamford, Conn., assignors to Electrolux Corporation,Old Greenwich, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 19, 1957,Ser. No. 641,064

4 Claims. (Cl. 339-91) Our invention relates to electrical appliancesand particularly to vacuum cleaners or the like which are moved aboutthe floor during use and to which current is supplied by means of aflexible cord.

In appliances of this nature it is convenient to have the electric corddetachable and one of the objects of our invention is to provide meansfor preventing accidental or unauthorized removal of the cord plug fromthe appilance. It has been found in practice that, with an ordinary plugconnection, small children may remove the plug from the appliance whilethe other end of the plug is still connected to the house circuit and,even though the contacts are recessed within the plug, metal objectssuch as pins, nails or the like may be inserted into the slots leadingto the contacts, with the result that the child may be burned or mayreceive an electric shock. Also, if the cord becomes caught around apiece of furniture, movement of the cleaner may cause the plug to becomedetached. In accordance with our invention a strap or band of resilientmaterial is provided for bolding the plug in the receptacle, thearrangement being such that the strap cannot be moved accidentally andsome force applied in the proper place and direction is required to moveit even when done intentionally.

Another object of our invention is to incorporate a plug lockingarrangement of this nature with a carrying handle for the device.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent fromthe following specification when considered in connection with thedrawings forming part of this application and of which;

Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in cross-section and taken on the line11 of Fig. 3, of a vacuum cleaner embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of a portion of the device shown in the precedingfigures;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a detail taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a side view showing the plug retaining band in releasedposition and the plug partially removed.

Referring to the figures, reference character designates generally thecasing of a vacuum cleaner which is adapted to be supported and movedaround on a floor by means of small wheels 12 and 14. A motor fan unitincluding an electric motor 16 and a centrifugal fan 18 is mountedwithin the casing 10. A decorative channel member 20 may be secured tothe upper part of the casing 10. A removable cover 17 at one end ofcasing 10 provides access to a dust bag compartment 19, while an endmember 21 is secured to the other end of the casing. Cover 17 is formedwith an inlet opening 23 for dirty air and member 21 has a clean airoutlet 25.

Mounted on the top of the channel 20 is a carrying handle 22 of somewhatresilient and elastic material having an end 24 through which extends abolt 26 for secur- 2,975,391 Patented Mar. 14, 1961 "ice ing this end ofthe handle and the channel 20 to the easing. The other end of the handle22 is held by a bolt 28 which also extends through a switch housing 30to secure both the end of the handle and the housing 30 to the casing10. A switch cover 32 is secured to the switch housing by means of thebolt 28 and an additional bolt 34. A switch operating member 36 extendsthrough an opening in the top of switch cover 32 so as to be accessiblefor operation. Cover 32 also includes side walls 38 which extenddownwardly to the surfaces of the casing 10 and end member 21. Theseside walls together with the top of the cover 32 extend rearwardlybeyond the switch so as to form a plug receptacle 40 above member 21. Apair of electric contact prongs 42 extend from the switch into thisreceptacle.

An electric cord 44 is provided with a plug 46 at one end which isadapted to be received within the receptacle 40. The plug is providedwith slots into which the prongs 42 extend so as to make contact withconductors recessed within the plug in the usual manner. The other endof this cord is provided with a plug 48 which, during use of thecleaner, is plugged into a wall receptacle so as to supply electriccurrent to the motor 16. However, as shown in the drawings, forconvenience in storage the cord may be wound around a drum 50 carried byend member 21 and surrounding opening 25.

Formed integrally with handle 22 is a flexible and elastic band or strap52 including a pair of elongated portions 54 extending along oppositesides of the switch cover 32 and a cross piece 56 which connects theends of the elongated portions. The cross piece 56 is formed with a slot58 having a bottom opening through which is adapted to extend the cord44 when the parts are in assembled position, as shown in Figs. 1 through3. The top of switch cover 32 is formed with a pair of spaced lips 60which extend rearwardly beyond the side walls 38, which lips are adaptedto overlie the upper edge of cross piece 56 so as to hold it inposition, as is shown in Fig. 4. As is apparent from Figs. 1 and 3, theplug 46 is considerably larger than the slot 58 in the cross piece 56,and consequently when the cross piece is in position underneath the lips60 it is impossible to remove the plug 46 from the receptacle 40.

Extending upwardly from the center of cross piece 56 is a pair ofresilient arms 62 between which is formed a slot 64. One of these armsextends upwardly between the spaced lips 60. The width of the slot 64 isslightly less than the diameter of the cord 44 so that, after the cordhas been wound around the drum 50 the free end of it adjacent to theplug 48 may be forced into the slot by virtue of the resilience of thearms 62, to thereby prevent the cord from unwinding from the drum.

In order to remove the plug 46 from the receptacle 40, the arms 62 maybe grasped and the cross piece 56 pulled from under the lips 60 and thenmoved upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5. This rearwarddisplacement of the cross piece, as well as the bending of the elongatedportions 54 may take place because of the resilrent and elastic natureof the material of which the elongated portions, as well as the rest ofthe handle are made. With the cross piece 56 in the position shown inFig. 5, the plug 46 may be grasped and pulled out of the receptacle soas to completely detach the cord 44 from the vacuum cleaner. When it isagain desired to connect the cord to the cleaner, the plug 46 may bereinserted into the receptacle 40 and the cross piece 56 forceddownwardly over the lips 60, whereupon the elasticity of the elongatedportions 54 will pull the cross piece back underneath the lips so as toprevent its accidental release.

While we have shown one more or less specific embodiment of ourinvention it is to be understood that this has been done for the purposeof illustration only and that the scope of our invention is not to belimited thereby, but is to be determined from the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A plug retainer for an electric appliance having a casing, a cover onsaid casing providing a plug receptacle, said cover having a top walland downwardly ex tending side walls extending down to the casing. thereceptacle having a forward wall through which contact prongs extend andan opposite open rear end, said receptacle having a lip on the top walland extending rearwardly beyond the free edges of the downwardlyextending walls, an elastic band secured to the casing having a pair ofelongated portions extending along opposite sides of the side walls anda cross piece joining the elongated portions, the normal unextendedlength of the elongated portions being such as to position the crosspiece in snug engagement with the free edges of the side walls when thecross piece is brought with its upper edge below the lip, whereby when aplug attached to the end of an electric cord is inserted into thereceptacle and into electrical contact with the contact prongs, thelower edge of the cross piece will be in line with a portion of the plugto prevent withdrawal of the plug, while the upper edge of the crosspiece will be beneath the lip to prevent upward movement of the crosspiece.

2. A plug retainer as set forth in claim 1 in which the lower edge ofthe cross piece is recessed to accommodate the cord to which the plug isattached.

3. A plug retainer as set forth in claim 1 in which there is provided ahandle secured to the casing and in which the securement of the elasticband to the casing is effected through the interposition of the handle,said handle and band being integral.

4. A plug retainer as set forth in claim 1 in which the cross piece hasan upward slotted extension to receive the free end of the cord and asupport on the casing to store the intermediate portion of the cordbetween the plug and the free end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,182,446 Nelson Dec. 5, 1939 2,258,252 Lang Oct. 7, 1941 2,332,846Fladd Oct. 26, 1943 2,418,130 Lofgrcn Apr. 1, 1947 2,690,543 MackensenSept. 28, 1954 2,747,214 Allen May 29, 1956 2,753,536 Tjader July 3,1956 2,866,169 Lofgren Dec. 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 407,259 Italy Sept.26, 1944 449,190 Great Britain June 22, 1936

